***THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, CONSULT WITH YOUR PHYSICIAN PRIOR TO IMPLEMENTING ANY ROUTINES TO YOUR LIFESTYLE! THIS IS SIMPLY MY EXPERIENCE!***
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My integrative cancer care journey started after my hysterectomy because I had stage 3c ovarian cancer, and then they found stage 1 uterine cancer during the surgery. The ovarian cancer was diagnosed 11 months after I was diagnosed with stage 3c colon cancer...I knew my diet was crap, my lifestyle had slipped back into some toxic habits, etc the several years leading up to the initial diagnosis of colon cancer. Obviously what I was doing was not working. I did the surgeries and chemo that doctor's recommended and there I was, less than a year later, with not just 1 more type of cancer, but 2! And they were all primary tumors, completely unrelated.
Some may say I had bad luck, or bad genes, which I do have mutations. BUT, I had heard about epigenetics...
Epigenetics is the study of how diet and lifestyle affect how our genes respond basically. We can turn certain genes on or off by our CHOICES. Even though we may be genetically pre-dispositioned to a particular disease, does not mean that we will get it. So, what makes the difference? Science is beginning to discover that there are multiple things in our lives that impact how the mitochondria (the batteries of our cells and also the garbage men) of our cells behave, which has a trickle down effect throughout our entire body and can ultimately result in how certain genes present.
I strongly believe that our health and medicine should be individualized, so finding a practitioner that specialized in epigenetics felt very right and made so much sense to me.
Trying to find a practitioner that specialized in epigenetics wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, or I'm just a bad Googler.
One day I was on FB, some cancer page and a comment on a post caught my eye. Nutrition Genome...that sounded an awful like something to do with epigenetics.
Clicked through and sure enough it was the company that does the testing and they had a list of practitioners trained in epigenetics on their site.
And so it began.
So, here is what I have done and am doing. It has been a journey, implementing a few things at a time. It's a lifestyle from here on out, not just a treatment that will pass.
We must change the terrain of our body so that it is not a favorable place for cancer to thrive.
This is how I am going about changing the terrain of my body and doing my best to alter the way my genes express.
To start I ordered my epigenetic testing from Nutrition Genome , it takes about 5 weeks to get this back.
In the meantime I scheduled my consult with Jen Nolan at Remission Nutrition. Jen works with cancer patients. If you have not been diagnosed with cancer, Karen Shrum specializes in cancer prevention.
Jen recommended I read The Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Dr. Nasha Winters and Jess Higgins Kelley. I highly recommend this book to anyone battling cancer, wanting to prevent cancer and other diseases. It is a guideline to optimizing your terrain and written in an easy to read manner. If it is too much for you to process during the cancering process, ask a friend or loved one to read it for you and help you implement. Don't feel like you need to do everything at once, that is impossible, one thing at a time.
Here's a great podcast with Dr. Nasha on the Metabolic Approach
Jen also recommended that I schedule an appointment with Dr. Kirsten West, an integrative oncologist at Naturemed Clinic in Boulder. Dr. West is now with the Riordan clinic and you can access that info by clicking on her name above. Naturemed has other integrative doctors still, and I Dr. Denise Clark has trained under Dr. West.
Working with Jen was a game changer for sure! She took my epigenetic report, medical history and family history and formulated a plan specific to me and my bloodwork. Same with Dr. West. Since I haven't been in an active cancering process since I started working with them we do bloodwork every 3 months and my diet shifts based on that. Some of the main goals, broadly speaking, are to reduce inflammation, reduce A1c, and become metabolically flexible. It's a lot more involved than that, but it is based on your individual situation. The blood panel is extensive. My insurance covers it as long as I go to a provider that is in network. Be sure to check this!!!! I got a bill for $2500 recently because I went to a lab that was cool for me to go to last year, but something changed with my insurance apparently and they didn't want to cover it. So, ask.
Jen worked with me to implement fasting around chemo, the first time was rough, but literally every round got easier from there! By the last round I was feeling better than the first round, and that is not how that works. That kind of chemo builds and gets worse with every round. There is good evidence that supports fasting around chemo. It is protective to your healthy cells and actually helps the chemo work more effectively on the cancer cells. This is where you need a nutritionist and integrative oncologist to work with. I attempted fasting around chemo with the FOLFOX for the colon cancer and was not successful at all, it was awful.
I also did intermittent fasting, starting with 13 hours a night of just water, herbal tea or black coffee and not eating within 3 hours of going to bed. After a few weeks, I started implementing 1-2 days/wk of an 18 hour fast.
They recommended 48 hour 1x/wk, but I've only done that a few times. I can easily go 36-40, but there always to be some social thing that comes up and I want to participate so I break early.
I will say don't go out of the gates like a crazy person with fasting, start slow and work your way into it, it gets easier. Especially if you clean up your diet and get into ketosis, then it's easy.
Speaking of ketosis, let's talk about it. Being in a state of ketosis means that your body is using ketones to fuel itself, rather than glucose (sugar), my chemo brain is SO MUCH BETTER when I'm in ketosis. I struggle to read and retain anything at all if I'm not in ketosis. Ketones are great for the brain!
Since I am not in an active cancering process ketosis isn't so much the goal as is metabolic flexibility. Which means even if I eat more carbs once in a while, my body knows what to do with them, and how to use them as fuel and then bounce right back to using ketones for fuel. This is the sweet spot, it reverses insulin resistance, lowers inflammation, etc.
Another thing that fasting and being in ketosis does is it puts your body into a state of autophagy. Autophagy literally translates to self-eating. It's where your body "cleans up" damaged cells in the body that could go haywire and cause disease. Getting your body into autophagy can reverse/slow some diseases. Most experts agree that you have to be in a fasted state (water, herbal tea unsweetened or black coffee) for 18-30 hours (depending on your metabolic flexibility) to get into a state of autophagy. Fasting is FREE! So, there is zero excuse to not do it. And, like I said, it gets easier the more you do it.
There is a study out of MD Anderson on breast cancer patients that did 13 hours of intermittent fasting and there was a significant reduction in recurrence in the group that practice intermittent fasting, it did not monitor what they were eating, just their fasting window.
Another thing that Dr. West recommended is mistletoe therapy. I started with a few weeks of injections and then did a three week IV intensive out in Boulder and then back to injections, which I will continue long term.
For more info on mistletoe therapy here is a video:
And a book that Dr. Nasha co-authored titled Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology which is a little heavier read, but is excellent.
Acupuncture with a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor, my WBC count wasn't recovering even though I had been off chemo for quite awhile, it took a few weeks of going and some teas he gave me but my WBC shot up. I totally buy into this now. My integrative oncologist said if he knows what he is doing he will look at your tongue and take your pulse and know what to do. That's exactly what happened. I don't understand it all, his English is a little hard to understand when speaking, but when I've texted him questions his responses are fascinating, he is able to go into so much more detail in writing.
Iridology, also incredibly interesting. Who knew the eyes could reveal so much?! The colored part of our eyes shows are history and genetic information, the whites of our eyes show what is currently going on in our body. He was able to tell that I was clenching my teeth, which had just started up again a few weeks prior, by looking at the whites of my eyes and seeing little blood vessel ls in a certain area. My explanation of this may not be great as I am not super familiar with the science behind it.
Lifestyle
Exercise is huge, I started with walking...around the block...when a friend would call and say let's go for a walk. So, be that person if you have a friend battling cancer, to encourage in this way. It can be hard to get motivated when you don't feel well.
They were on me to lift weights for quite awhile before I actually started doing it, but I'm back at it now! I did do some air squats and push-ups off the kitchen counter and I would do the Nitric Oxide Dump workout, I still do that one if I just ate a higher carb meal, or didn't actually workout that day. You don't need anything but your body to do it!
Saunas are encouraged, I do steam sauna and low EMF far infrared sauna (full spectrum would be great buy this is what I went with). Currently I'm trying to steam sauna 4-5x/wk and infrared 2-3x/wk. I don't usually get it all in. Sweating is one of the best ways to get junk out of your body! Cold hose down immediately after getting out and then cold shower after.
Epsom salt and bicarbonate baths are another way to safely detox. I go as hot as I can and then take a cold shower after.
Hot/cold therapy is SO good for you. It's a great way to stimulate heat shock proteins which help proteins to fold properly or refold properly if damaged by cellular stress. Hot bath, as hot as you can stand for 20-30 minutes, then cold shower for a few minutes, again you can work into this and it's much easier to start in the summer than the winter.
Coffee Enemas...yep no segway into this, lol. The first time I did one I think my coffee was too strong and I had a pretty intense detox reaction, luckily it didn't last long, less than two hours. I backed way off the coffee strength and haven't had any issues since. You actually feel really good a few hours after! Here is the one I bought.
Castor oil packs, they can help with nausea, abdominal discomfort, constipation and regularity. Lately I've been putting a little Juvacleanse by Young Living on along with the castor oil and place it over my right side. I like this one by Queen of Thrones, not too messy. If I have a digestive issues I use castor oil and Digize by Young Living and place the pack over my abdomen. I try to do this several times a week...sometimes that doesn't happen. If I have any constipation I'm sure to do this, it helps get things moving, as does the Digize. Any time I go in for surgery I take the Digize with me, it works miracles for me. My first surgery (bowel resection) I was in so much pain because my bowels hadn't woken up and my stomach was horribly distended. Within 10 minutes of putting the Digize on my abdomen I was able to go to the bathroom and felt SO much better.
Air quality is huge! Outdoor air is better than indoor air, so open up the windows as much as possible and spend time outside! I also invested in an Air Doctor air purifier for our bedroom since we spend so much time in there sleeping. This is the one I got, we leave it on 24/7. I have also gotten a bunch of houseplants that are supposed to help clean the air...I've killed a ton of them, lol.
Electrolytes are huge! If you are doing sauna and/or keto, you need to be drinking adequate water but also adding in electrolytes. I like LMNT, they are super clean and their "natural flavors" are truly natural, no dyes.
Grounding, getting outside barefoot in the grass, utilizes the Earth's electric charge to bring our body into a more stabilized state which has proven physiological effects on sleep, pain, stress, inflammation, etc. Check out this abstract from a research review. You can also get grounding mats to put under your desk or sleep on. Getting ready to order one, I've just been walking around in the yard (that we DO NOT treat with chemicals) barefoot since it's nice out.
Helping the lymph system flow is important, there are various ways of doing this. Massage (from someone trained in lymph drainage), dry brushing, rebounder, getting your body moving, sauna, aluminum free deodorant, no underwires in bras.
Mental & Emotional Health
Mental/Emotional health is huge. You must have hope and a reason and will to live.
Here's what I do:
Prayer
Read my Bible and devotions
Listen to this series by Keith Moore-it's like 12 parts, here's the 1st one:)
Surround yourself with ONLY positive people. If they can't be positive, stay away.
Stop letting fear be your guide. Don't make decisions based out of fear. Fear is a liar. Listen to this.
Gratitude practice- wake up every morning and say 3 things that you are thankful for.
Give of yourself, even if you are sick as a dog, text a friend or loved one and give them an encouraging word. Getting outside of yourself and thinking about something other than your problem is one of the best things you can do!!! Obviously there were times when I was just fighting to live, so yeah, but once you start to feel the littlest bit better, try to start implementing this.
Humans Are Good Foundation- I was blessed to have been part of the beta group they were doing with cancer patients and emotional healing. This will be open to the public soon, with a projected release date of October 2022. I've done some training with them and will be doing more starting in August. It has been a huge help to me, learning how experiences in childhood have framed my perceptions, self thoughts and how I respond to things to this very day. It brings awareness and gives you tools to work through childhood traumas, whether those traumas be significant or not, it is different for everyone. The work I've done through here has shown me that I have not given voice to many emotions over the years, this bottling up results in explosions and unnecessary mental stress and emotional upheaval in my life over the years. Treating my loved ones in ways that I'm ashamed of, but couldn't tell you why I acted like that... I have a lot more to work through, I don't think you're ever truly done, but I'm looking forward to growing in this area. If you're interested or feel like you could benefit from something like this, please feel free to reach out to me and I can keep you updated on the release to the public.
Breathwork- I really like box breathing. Helps control anxiety and reduce stress and blood pressure. Getting your body out of the sympathetic state and into the parasympathetic and giving your adrenal glands a much needed break.
Synctuition App- combines binaural beats at a specific frequency (gamma range) with specific sound frequencies that research has shown to decrease cortisol and lower heart rate. To see a synopsis of the science click here.
432 Hz music- Archeological digs in Egypt have uncovered instruments and they have been tuned to this frequency, unlike our current music which is typically tuned to 440Hz, which isn't soothing for us. It has been shown to lower heart rate significantly and reduce anxiety. I started playing it at work, I normally don't have music on because the radio is negative. I had neck surgery and am normally in pain when I'm working, when I started playing this I realized I could work a full day with no pain! When I started paying attention to my body, I wasn't tensing my shoulders as much as I normally do, and if it helps my patients chill out a little too, win, win. Here's my favorite 432, but find what you like:):
Rattle by Elevation Worship, this song was my mental focus when I was waiting for my hysterectomy. The pain was so intense I couldn't sleep, I would average a few hours a night and just be miserable the rest of the time for the most part. Find something that speaks to you and encourages you.
Jireh by Elevation Worship-my current focus
Testing
I'm getting ready to do a Dutch test and assess hormones, this will be my first time doing this. I'm curious to see where my stress hormones are.
I am also getting ready to do heavy metal testing when I go out to Boulder in a few months. I've worked in dentistry for 20+ years so mercury is a concern, I've gutted several old houses and didn't wear proper ventilation for the first few, so lead is a concern as well as asbestos. And then chemo for colon and ovarian cancer also contains platinum. I noticed when after I started chemo when I would sauna grey goo
would come out of my body, it took about 6 months of sauna after my first chemo for it to go back to white and lessen in amount. Then when I started chemo again it came back and hasn't gone away, it was getting a lot lighter and not much coming out recently. After talking to my integrative oncologist about heavy metals testing she recommend I start taking Vit C before I get in the sauna because it binds mercury. It was INSANE what came out of my body!!! Dark grey and tons of goo...check it out. This photo is literally what came out of my body. So, yeah. I think I definitely have some heavy metals in my body. I'll continue with my Vit C before saunas until my testing comes back and we know exactly what we are working with, then my doctor will formulate a plan for me.
My friend's mom just went through chelation therapy for lead in Indianapolis and it was expensive, the price out in Boulder is a lot more reasonable, which is kind of what I've found to be the case for integrative medicine in general.
Cleaning Products/Household
My cleaning products I cleaned up awhile ago. I use 3 things to clean my entire house and they work great! I use Young Living Thieves Concentrate on counters, outside of toilets, mirrors, windows, microwave, stainless steel, on a microfiber cloth to dust, everything. If you mix the ratio right it won't streak your mirrors whatsoever, it's amazing. I just discovered Young Living Kitchen & Bath Scrub and this stuff is AMAZING!!! I have battled pink mold on my grout since I went to natural cleaners, I literally could not get it off and I would scrub and scrub, it was so frustrating. I used a scrub brush but had to put zero effort in with this product. I like Dr. Bronners Castile Soap for sinks and faucets, it seems to do a good job of keeping soap scum at bay.
Click here to buy the Young Living Thieves Concentrate
Click here to buy the Young Living Thieves Kitchen & Bath Scrub.
I'm currently trying different dishwasher soap, dishsoap and laundry detergent trying to find products that work well. I have a new brand that should be arriving this week. So far I haven't found any clean options that I love with any of these.
Skincare
Skincare and makeup is another big one that I just recently started cleaning up. When I started looking into the products I used for years I was shocked at what I found!
I use Environmental Working Group (website & app) and Think Dirty App to assess skincare, household items, etc.
Here's what I found about the mascara I've used forever...
And the Mac foundation...
When I started looking into clean makeup options I called my friend's sister, who is a professional makeup artist, and I knew she was into clean makeup as well. She recommended I check out Beautycounter, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a lot of EWG Verified products, exactly what I was looking for! I don't mind if a few small items that I don't use very often, like lipsticks, are rated a 1 or 2, but for the most part I want them EWG Verified so I know that what I am putting on my body is not adding to my toxic load.
I was also surprised at the quality of the products, I guess in my mind I associated cleaner beauty with lacking the quality I am accustomed too (I've always been a big Mac fan).
If you would like help getting the right skincare line, message me! I'm happy to mail you samples so that you can try things out before buying.
If you need a color match for foundation or concealer, message me! I have a professional makeup artist that does amazing color matches with a selfie!
You can shop Beautycounter's site here. If you have any questions, PLEASE don't hesitate to reach out!
What we put on our skin is so important! Endocrine disruptors are in many products and these ingredients affect our hormones. Many of the ovarian and breast cancers that are so prominent are hormone driven, we have to bring our hormones into homeostasis, which is possible with diet and lifestyle!
Books to Read
Shopping Links & Discounts
Misfits Market - Use this link and get $$$ off your first order!
I buy a lot of my produce and some other items through Misfits. There is a $30 minimum, $7.99 delivery fee and saves SO much time! They now offer organic and in organic produce. Delivered to your door!
Market Wagon - Use this link to send me a friend request, once I accept (message me if I don't see it right away) we both get $20 off our order! This is an amazing way to access farms from your area. What is available is 100% dependent on your location. They source from a several hour radius of local farms, farms deliver to the central location and the Market Wagon delivers to your front door! Deliver is $7.99. I've gotten pastured meat, eggs, homemade sauerkraut, veggies, etc. Just depends on what is in season! Again, saves SO much time!
Thrive Market - Use this link and get 40% off your first order! This is HUGE! I order Dr. Bronners coconut oil, sweet potato chips, Thrive pasta sauce (super clean), Thrive Roasted Red Peppers, Tomatoes in glass jars and with zero preservatives, Thrive Nutritional Yeast, Wild Planet Sardines, Wild Planet Anchovies and so much more.
There is a $5/month membership fee (it's worth it)
Here’s how much shipping costs by order: Grocery: Free shipping on orders over $49, or $5.95 shipping if not Frozen: Free shipping on orders over $120, or $19.95 shipping if not Wine: Free shipping on orders over $79, or $13.95 shipping if not
And, again...saves SO much time.
Young Living - cleaning products, high quality essential oils, I also use their toothpaste
Beautycounter - deodorant, skincare, makeup, shampoo/conditioner
Higherdose Sauna Blanket - Low EMF, far infrared, store in a closet. Get $50 off with this link!
Apps I Love
Misfits Market
Synctuition
Think Dirty
EWG
Podcasts
Dr. Mark Hyman
Dr. Huberman
Follow on Social Media
Dr. Nasha Winters
Chris Wark- Chris Beat Cancer
Dr. Lori Bouchard
Jessie Inchauspe- Glucose Goddess
Dr. Mindy Pelz
Amber Dilling:)
Dr's trained in the Metabolic Approach
P.S. As of July 2022 I am 13 months out from my last surgery. Bloodwork looks great, scans are clear and scopes are clear! I'm continuing to try to implement things in my life to alter how my genes express so that I can live long and strong!
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